Anna Sewell was an English novelist who wrote the novel 'Black Beauty' in 1877. The novel is considered to be one of the earliest works of animal fiction and has been adapted into various media, including film and television. Sewell's novel is a fictional autobiography of a horse, told from the horse's point of view, and is considered to be a classic of children's literature. Sewell wrote the novel to encourage kindness and empathy towards animals.